Setting up a Default Value

In some cases you might need Ragic to fill out some of your fields with a default value, such as the current date or time to save time while filling entries, and for error avoidance.

You can set default values to applicable field types by clicking the link next to the "Default Value" option in the Design Mode, under Field Settings > Basic.

Variables Offered in Ragic

You can use the variables offered in Ragic to generate a default value when an entry is being created or updated, or write a value to set as default that will populate this field in each new entry (in the case of setting a free text or selection field.

Default Value

Default Formatting

Variable

Example

Create date

yyyy/MM/dd

$DATE

2015/05/19

Create time

HH:mm:ss

$TIME

09:21:05

Create date time

yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss

$DATETIME

2015/05/10 09:21:05

Create year

yyyy

$YEAR

2015

Create month

M

$MONTH

5

Create weekday

E

$WEEKDAY

2

Create user name

Name LastName

$USERNAME

Jane Doe

Create user e-mail

email@domain.com

$USERID

jane@initech.com

Last modified date

yyyy/MM/dd

#DATE

2015/05/23

Last modified time

HH:mm:ss

#TIME

09:32:06

Last modified date time

yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss

#DATETIME

2015/05/23 09:32:06

Last modified year

yyyy

#YEAR

2015

Last modified month

M

#MONTH

5

Last modified weekday

E

#WEEKDAY

2

Last modified user name

Name LastName

#USERNAME

Karen Moore

Last modified user e-mail

email@domain.com

#USERID

karen@initech.com

Sequence

1,2,3

$SEQ

3

The above are shown as options under the default value configuration, which you can select directly.

Inputting your own Formatting for Default Values

If you need a different formatting for the default value, you can input this in the formatting box below the default value options, or choose from the offered formatting options. You can choose to set a custom date format for date fields as well.

Applying formulas

You can also apply formulas to a default value. Please navigate to the design mode of your form page, check the box "Interpret as formula" below the default value box, and then add your formula directly in the default value box. For supported formulas in Ragic, please refer to this documentation.

Please note that the interpreted formulas in your default value will be triggered when your edit the reference field for the first time. Once the formula is triggered, it will not be re-calculated when you edit the reference field afterwards. If you would like to have the default value re-calculated according to the reference field value all the time, please use formulas instead of adding a formula as a default value. Formulas are explained in detail here.

Using with the Read-only Option

Fields with default values are often used with the "Read Only" option, to prevent the value being changed manually by a user.

Populate empty values

When you already have entries in the sheet and you would like to add a new field with a default value or change an existing field type to a field type that has a default value applied, Ragic will not automatically populate the default values to existing entries according to the new configuration. Therefore, the new or newly modified field might be empty. If you would like to have all empty values to be populated according to the set default value, such as the last update date, or created by username, you can click on the Populate empty values button in the Design Mode under your default value setting.

Once you click on the Populate empty values button, Ragic will start to populate the empty values in the background. This may take awhile depending on the number of records in your sheet. You can navigate away from the design mode if needed. There will be a pop-up notice at the lower-left corner of your screen once the process is done.